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Setting up modprobe and kmod support

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The ALSA kernel modules must be loaded every time you boot or reboot Linux. These modules can be loaded automatically by the modprobe command which is part of the modutils utilities. The modprobe command uses a configuration file which tells it which kernel modules to load and how to load them. This document explains how to set up the modprobe configuration file.

The name of the modprobe configuration file has unfortunately been changed several times. For the most recent Linux kernels, Linux 2.6.x, the file is called modprobe.conf. For old Linux kernels such as Linux 2.4.x, the file was called modules.conf or even conf.modules. You need to work out what is the name of the file in your particular Linux distribution. There is also unfortunately no standard location for the file; the location varies between different Linux distributions. The file is usually in the directory /etc, but if you are using Debian Linux, the file is either in the directory /lib/modules or /etc/modutils. You need to work out where the file is in your particular Linux distribution.

Assuming you know the name and the location of the modprobe configuration file, it is easy to add support for ALSA kernel modules. You just need to edit the file and add a few extra lines to it.

Here are two examples of the ALSA-related part of a modprobe configuration file. Add the following lines by copying and pasting them at the bottom of your configuration file but do not erase the existing contents of the file. The lines that begin with the "#" character are optional comments only. Note to Debian users only: Afterwards you need to run update-modules.

Example 1: A modprobe configuration for a Yamaha OPL3SA2 soundcard

# ALSA portion
alias char-major-116 snd
alias snd-card-0 snd-opl3sa2
# module options can go here

# OSS/Free portion
alias char-major-14 soundcore
alias sound-slot-0 snd-card-0

# card #1
alias sound-service-0-0 snd-mixer-oss
alias sound-service-0-1 snd-seq-oss
alias sound-service-0-3 snd-pcm-oss
alias sound-service-0-8 snd-seq-oss
alias sound-service-0-12 snd-pcm-oss

Example 2: A modprobe configuration for a Creative Audigy 2 ZS soundcard

# ALSA portion
alias char-major-116 snd
alias snd-card-0 snd-emu10k1

# module options can go here

# OSS/Free portion
alias char-major-14 soundcore
alias sound-slot-0 snd-card-0

# card #1
alias sound-service-0-0 snd-mixer-oss
alias sound-service-0-1 snd-seq-oss
alias sound-service-0-3 snd-pcm-oss
alias sound-service-0-8 snd-seq-oss
alias sound-service-0-12 snd-pcm-oss

Retrieved from "http://alsa.opensrc.org/Setting_up_modprobe_and_kmod_support"

Category: Howto